down. trump officials and congressional leaders in the meantime were to resume talks this morning at nine after working through the night on the massive $2 trillion economic rescue plan. democrats had derailed the plans sunday night, arguing it was tilted toward corporations and did too little to help workers and health care providers. you can read more at ap news.com. to follow the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak at www.c-span.org/coronavirus. track the spread through the u.s. on the world with interactive maps and charts. watch briefings and hearings with public health specialists any time, unfiltered at www.c-span.org/coronavirus. >> joining us from his home in silver spring, maryland is a senate reporter with national journal, thank you very much for spending some time with us this morning. let's begin with what happened last night in the senate.

why was it a partyline vote? >> we have two parties that are split essentially on how to go forward with this more than one trillion dollar economics to me was package that congress has been working on for the past few days. the proposal was originally drafted by mitch mcconnell and a number of republican chairman of various committees. people like finance and the health committee and they came up with a proposal that would include a number of provisions that would include direct payments to americans, not just those unemployed but also those who have trouble making house payments or buying groceries because maybe they didn't front loader lost their jobs. there are loans to small and large businesses, some market stabilization measures and democrats were on board with most of that but there were differences of opinion. they have said that they are opposed to some of these measures because they feel like they are too favorable to corporate businesses only a few years after the tarp measure during the financial crisis

where big banks who were losing tons of capital at the time and were in danger of going under were given a huge cash infusion. i think there is leftover skepticism about any type of major boost to big business without the checks to make sure there are no stock buybacks and unwarranted executive now,nsation and right democrats are focusing on the amount of disclosure of those funds. the language in the bill that prevents americans from knowing where the funds are going for a full six months in hopes of trying to stabilize the markets. host: any discussion underway that republicans would give on that? guest: senate minority leader chuck schumer said last night that there is progress ongoing on the senate has not reconvene for the day. they will do that at noon and go forward with some procedural votes to move the package forward. there are negotiations i'm going not just with mcconnell and schumer but treasury secretary

steven mnuchin, nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house flew back from san francisco over the weekend to be a part of these talks. everybody says they are making progress but it's a question of whether they can make up these final few inches or yards depending how you see it in the next few hours. host: is there language in this proposal that would prohibit corporations from buying back stocks if they receive this money? guest: there is. president trump said he was in favor of this, something the democrats have been calling for for a long time and it's something republicans got on board with and recognize there was interest in making sure that any businesses that got any taxpayer funds that were struggling during the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic were not going to use that to essentially line their own pockets and make sure the money was going toward making sure the business stayed up and running and workers who were affected or maybe had ours caught or relate -- or were laid off would receive those benefits.

thecrats found a line in measure that said the treasury secretary can waive those responsibilities at any time and now this negotiation has changed and it's unclear that that provision is still in there. as of last night, that was a major concern for many senate democrats. >> what to republicans and democrats agree on in this nearly $2 trillion package? >> the most popular provision is understandably, the idea of putting money directly into the hands of americans who may be having trouble making ends meet during this economic shutdown. the crown jewel proposal is a $1200 check that would go to families from the treasury department as early as early april, april 6. single200 would be for a taxpayer or $2400 for husbands and wives if they are filing jointly. there is additional money for

every dependent in that family. the idea is to help keep the economy going to -- during this time and provide people with a standard of living while they are not working or trying to cut back. host: we had several callers this morning ask why not suspend payments, credit card payments, rent, mortgages for those people who are struggling with responding, who have lost their jobs. has this been part of this discussion? guest: i get plenty of emails from businesses who say if you're having trouble making your mortgage or making your bills, talk to us and we will work through it. it's something that corporations recognize will be a reality for them and that's why in this package there are provisions to provide loans, not just for the businesses or airlines we have been talking about but also smaller businesses like landlords and property managers

who are reliant on that money as well to come from the people renting their properties. everything has a domino effect. the goal it seems from this package is to make sure that not just consumers but also the people who those consumers are reliant on will still have the funds they need to function for the weeks ahead. host: zach cohen is here to take your questions about the senate, the house and the negotiations happening between democrats and republicans on capitol hill. if you live in the eastern or central part of the country -- here are the numbers -- it will be interesting to hear from medical professionals what you want congress to do. run through what will happen today when the senate adjourns

at noon? reconvenes, excuse me. guest: there will be three votes, the first two will be majority threshold, 51 senators and that may be difficult because there are five republicans that are currently self-quarantined because rand paul tested positive for coronavirus. those first two votes will happen at noon and shortly after, some boats up and held open for half an hour or so to make sure senators are not getting close to each other. you cannot do vote by videoconference or anything like that. finally, the third vote will be a redo of the boat from yesterday and be a vote to end debate -- to begin debate on the package and give another 30 hours of debate on this trillion dollar plus package. that would essentially kick the

vote to later this week. we don't expect passage today but to tent -- but potentially some procedural events months to make sure the package gets out of the senate to the house and eventually to the president's desk. host: any lawmakers saying they are concerned about taking a final vote later in the week when the markets responded immediately to the vote last night? guest: this is something majority leader mcconnell was talking about last night immediately after the procedural vote failed. he noted that the futures market was already down. when they tried to adjourn for the night and set a 9:00 a.m. timetable in order to get the vote underway, minority leader chuck schumer objected and mcconnell again mentioned that what you are doing is keeping the markets in suspense for another three hours rather than having the votes at nine is a show of force to say we can get this done. the markets are a big factor here and democrats keep coming back to the idea that it's

important on a package this -- $1 trillion is hard to wrap around -- it's important to get that right is what democrats are saying. host: we are hearing around $1 trillion in other reports of $2 trillion. is it because it's flexible that the number might be $2 trillion? guest: i think the package itself as doubled in size. if you look at the number of pages, we will get a final dollar figure when it's finally done. i have heard different numbers but as certain tweaks are being made, some of these are not insignificant. at some point, they added a boost to the unemployment provisions, the unemployment insurance to make sure that those laid off would have the money this week but also in the weeks to come. that cost a couple of hundred billion dollars. when you talk about small changes, they amount to rather

large dollar figures and that can sway the total. we are talking about arguably the biggest thing congress has passed and the last 20 years. oft: break down the number republicans in the senate versus the number of democrats and how many votes they need for these procedural votes versus final passage. there are 53 senate republicans, 47 senate democrats. normally, that's enough to get things like judges and executive nominees to the senate which is the normal order of business. today tothe third vote move forward on this trillion dollar plus package does need 60 votes in order to get over the filibuster threshold. that will require not just republicans but democrats to get on board. that's out to previous coronavirus bills passed which were many billions of dollars. the problem is not just that democrats are opposing the bill as written but also that there whofive senate republicans

are all self-quarantined. mitt romney and lee decided to self-quarantine after learning that senator rand paul had tested positive for coronavirus. scott should be back very soon. it's a very important numbers game to make sure there are enough senators in favor of the package or who can be in the chamber to vote for it. do we know why senator sanders missed the boat? guest: he was in vermont last night.

host: richard in springfield, ohio. you are up first. caller: i was watching the news channels yesterday and early in the morning, one of them was talking to a lady -- i did not catch her name -- but she was saying this stimulus package that they are going to give out starts at people making more than $40,000. basically, that leaves, in my opinion, the people really need the money out. i was wondering if c-span could check on that and find out if there is any truth on that and to let people know about it. host: zach cohen. guest: there was a provision in the initial draft that if you did not pay federal income tax, if you made less than $40,000 per year, that you would receive just $600 rather than the $1200 that is being promised to others and that provision was waived after objections from republicans paired their argument being there should not be a regressive measure, everyone needs to make rent payments, pay for groceries and

childcare. that measure, i believe, has been taken out but this is a fluid situation. it's still being negotiated's let's see what the final package looks like. host: michelle in south carolina. what do you do for a living? caller: i am a dialysis nurse. it is scaring me because we have been told that starting next month we are not going to get -- as many masks -- a dramatic decrease in masks and gloves. i listened to trump talking, i am not a trump supporter. i listened to him, this is war. he should use his powers to force companies to make masked -- masks and gloves for health-care workers. the numbers he said, 600,000 masks are going here and there, we need millions and millions of masks not 600,000.

, 600,000 is nothing. he has the power. during world war ii, companies were switched over to make needed supplies. he has the power to do that. he should do that to have these things available for health-care workers. host: zach cohen. guest: a few things on that. i forgot to mention the package has funding for hospitals, health care officials and a lot of that would be going to the states for the necessary funds to pay for medical supplies, masks, everything we have been talking about. that's really the crucial part of this bill and that has been in previous legislative packages over the last month. folks like nurses and doctors are working overtime to fight the virus. the caller was talking about a -- the defense production act which is a korean war era bill that allows a president to direct private companies to produce certain goods necessary for national security and the welfare of the nation.

he has not invoked it but he has signed an executive order allowing them to do, but what president trump has repeatedly said ac has not needed to evoke that authority, stepping forward and providing those materials on a voluntary basis. he is opposed to any sort of nationalization of private industries. there are calls from democrats and some republicans that are saying, look, you need to have a stronger arm on this and start >> happy monday, i hope your weekend was a good one. the weekend is a little different when you are not working during the week but -- let me introduce the people who are here today. zukere dr. howard starting from i left two everybody knows, our great health commissioner. stephen cohen who was secretary to the governor 20120